Zebras Remix
by JacquiOh
Summary: How I think the Zebras Episode should have gone, as told from Elliot, Casey and Elizabeth Donnelly's perspectives.  I had a beta reader, so thank you Miri Cleo, but these are not - as far as I can tell - the final drafts. Those were lost in HD failure.
1. Elliot

Elliot exhaled fully as he prepared to walk up the steps to Judge Donnelly's brownstone. It was a warm morning, and the blue skies mocked his trepidation. He checked his watch - it was seven a.m. The judge would not be pleased.

Elliot knew he had no choice. A lab screw up like this could cost the case. He needed to know how a judge would perceive the evidence. There may have been little love lost between the judge and Elliot Stabler, but they went a long way back, and Elliot knew she would be straight with him.

He threw his eyes upwards instinctively as he knocked firmly on her door.

He waited. He had anticipated a slight wait. He thought he heard her voice and her stepping down the stairs. The door opened.

Elliot's eyes widened at the ex-Assistant District Attorney as she gasped. Her red hair hung wet around her face and over her white robe as her eyes widened in recognition. "Elliot," she said, a flush starting to light her cheeks. "You're looking for Liz?" The corners of her mouth started to turn up as she took in the shock that was paralyzing the detective.

He spoke, "Casey," he swallowed, "How are you? I mean, what ... " a breathy laugh escaped his mouth, "I didn't expect to see you here." He smiled, shaking his head.

Casey smiled fully now, more relaxed than Elliot, "I'll get Liz. Come on in." She motioned towards the living room.

"Oh, no, thanks, Casey. I'll, uh, wait here. Tell her I'll be quick." Elliot noticed that Casey was barefoot.

"I'm sure you will be." The redhead was more mischievous now. She walked lightly up the stairs and Elliot could hear her muffled voice and then a laugh. It was followed by the muffled but still recognizable sterner tones of Elizabeth Donnelly. His mind reeled. Casey Novak and Elizabeth Donnelly. He almost sent Olivia a text right then and there, but he was terrified the judge would walk out and know what he was doing. Elliot had no trouble at all admitting how intimidating he found Elizabeth Donnelly. She was a force of nature.

He stood up straighter as he heard new footsteps coming down the stairs. Elizabeth Donnelly was dressed in a bathrobe and slippers and it didn't soften her one bit. Assured as ever, there was no confessional blush on her cheeks or mischievous grin shaping her lips.

"Detective." It was a statement, greeting and question all in one.

"Ju-Judge Donnelly," Elliot stammered, "I'm so sorry to bother you so early."

"Then I'll presume there's a good reason." The judge held his gaze.

"There's this case.." Elliot started

"A hypothetical case...," she interrupted.

"Yes, of course, a hypothetical case... where the defense is going to use a small error in paperwork in the lab to argue DNA contamination." The detective laid out the predicament.

Elizabeth pursed her lips and squinted slightly in the morning sun. "Your problem is bigger than you think, Detective." Her eyes seemed to search the skyline behind the detective, "Your squad's cases all rely on DNA evidence. If the defense can make a credible argument, backed up by the NYPD's own shoddy paperwork, " she raised her eyebrow and fixed her gaze on Elliot.

"Overturned convictions..." Elliot caught her meaning.

She lifted her chin and nodded once, "Hundreds of them. Talk to Cabot before you proceed. Decide whether getting this one conviction is worth risking hundreds of others."

Elliot's face fell. They really were screwed. "Thank you, Judge Donnelly."

"And Elliot." Elizabeth Donnelly beckoned him closer. Leaning in, she intoned, "As this is ... improper... I expect anything you've seen here will be kept between us." The corners of her mouth upturned slightly. "Am I understood?"

"Sure, no problem, Judge." Elliot wanted out of there as quickly as possible. He was still going to tell Olivia. There was no way he could keep this secret.

He paused for a second, "But tell Casey to call us. It was good to see her again."

"Good Day, Detective." The judge shut the door as Elliot sprang down the stairs into the street. Olivia was never going to believe this.


	2. Casey

The house was quiet and still. Casey lay in bed, awakened by the sunlight streaming in between the slats of the Venetian blinds.

Quietly, trying not to disturb her sleeping girlfriend, she rolled over so she was facing Liz's back. She lifted her head off the pillow to see the clock on the other side of the bed. It read 6:28, so she had two more minutes. She let her head fall back on the pillow, letting her eyes fall closed. She could hear her lover's breathing, so soft, almost silent. A kind of peace settled over her as she thought of the last few months, and how things had changed for her.

Her eyes, half open, lingered on her partner's mane of blonde hair, the curve of her neck, and her strong shoulders. She felt a warmth build up inside her as she let her mind draw the rest of her lover's body which was hidden under the sheets: every angle, every gently sloping curve, all the perfections and imperfections she now knew by heart and by touch.

Casey ran her tongue over her lips as she thought of waking Elizabeth herself, with butterfly kisses and gentle, feathery touches but lost track of time and heard the alarm clock beep. Quickly, but carefully, she reached over her sleeping lover and pressed the snooze button, kissing her neck as she leaned back into her pillow.

Elizabeth groaned and turned around, facing Casey who was unsuccessfully resisting the urge to fall back asleep.

Casey couldn't help but smile a sleepy grin before leaning in for a good morning kiss. As their lips came together, Casey searched her mind for any reason at all she could use to stay in bed a bit longer. But she had to go to work, and she knew Liz wouldn't be staying either. Both women loved their work.

After her suspension, Casey thought she'd never love a job again, but she found work helping battered women and it became a true passion for her. It was also this job that reintroduced the two women. When she ran into Elizabeth Donnelly at a fund-raiser for the shelter, the awkwardness evaporated quickly into the comfort of their old friendship. Casey didn't see it happen, but before the evening was over, Casey had invited Liz to a softball game. Or had Liz invited herself? Casey found things around Liz became blurry.

The softball game was ...interesting.

The night ended with the two women tangled in each others limbs, and several other evenings ended the same over the next few months. They found in each other a peace, a sense belonging that neither had really felt before. It was physical, visceral but sweet and real at the same time.

Their relationship was not without its struggles; still something about the pair just worked. And while Liz was unable to commit to a monogamous relationship, Casey found that it wasn't as big of a deal as she had once imagined: that in practice, her lover's dalliances were few and far between. Casey also knew that Liz also worried about public perception of her non-monogamy, and while it seemed fine while she was ostensibly single, she worried that in a relationship, she would be expected, even if not by Casey, to be monogamous... which she couldn't, or wouldn't be.

But Casey felt instinctively that love was simple.

Stepping out of the shower, Casey gazed at her lover who was looking so serious, reading at her desk. She walked up and wrapped her wet arms around Liz, dropping kisses on her neck, egged on by a small moan that escaped those so-serious lips.

When she heard someone at the door, she hopped up and answered it. She could taste his shock. Like biting into an onion and finding it sweet: not unpleasant but disconcerting nonetheless. She smiled at her old colleague, and invited him in. It hadn't occured to her that no one knew about them. Casey had been staying regularly for the last six months; Now she was living there full time.

Elliot's reaction told her that nobody knew. She didn't know that but trusted that Liz had her reasons. When Casey apologized, Liz didn't seem upset, still winking cheekily as she descended the stairs to speak to her early-morning caller.

Casey Novak went back to the bedroom to get dressed. She had a busy day ahead, and happily, when she went home, she'd be here again, with Liz.

She was smiling as she skipped lightly down the stairs, wondering what she could cook up for Liz's breakfast.

She stopped suddenly when she saw Elizabeth leaning with her back to the door. Light flooded in the windows around the door and made the older woman appear as a shadow, her head down and shoulders slumped, arms crossed tightly around her chest.

Casey thought then that maybe love was only simple in a vacuum. 


	3. Liz

Elizabeth Donnelly's eyelids fluttered open as the alarm clock flashed and beeped. A pale arm reached over her slender body to press the snooze button and pink lips planted a kiss on the back of her neck.

"Mmm," The judge rolled over, smiling, "Good morning, beautiful."

She took in the sight of her lover, awake but with eyes still half shut, her long red hair spilled over the white pillow, her blue eyes sparkling but still sleepy.

Their lips met in a kiss that should have been quick but lingered somewhat, with more than a hint of want.

"I have to get showered," Casey pulled herself away smiling, "but you, stay right there. I promise I won't be long." She pushed herself away from the bed, not taking her eyes off the older woman.

"I'm getting up," Liz groaned slightly as she lifted the covers off her body, "I need to finish reading that Review Board proposal before court."

"All work and no play...," Casey teased, pulling on one of Liz's robes.

"...is hardly how I'd describe my life these days, Casey. I should have finished reading this yesterday." She sounded cross but she was smiling. She had been reading it yesterday, but Casey had had other plans. Casey could be very convincing.

Never before would she have left reading something this important this late. Elizabeth Donnelly was always prepared, always on time but now, she was often distracted, sometimes smiling and frankly happier than she had ever been.

That wasn't to say that the formidable Judge Elizabeth Donnelly had gone soft. In her work life, she was more or less the same. She figured there would be perceptible changes in her demeanor but they would be subtle at worst. She still ruled her courtroom with her sarcasm and unrelenting dedication to the law. She still kept errant lawyers in line and passionately enforced the rules. Although there was new passion in her life this year, it didn't decrease the passion she felt for seeing the legal system at work. The law was, and would always be, Elizabeth Donnelly's first love.

She sat down as she heard Casey get into the shower. She felt herself tempted, however briefly, to join the young redhead, but quickly refocused her attention on her work. She still lost herself in her work easily and it seemed no time had passed when she felt Casey's wet hair on the back of her neck and her arms around her chest.

"You're distracting me again, Casey." She kept her eyes forward as Casey planted kisses all the way down Liz's neck. She tried to sound firm, but her resolve was weak. She craned her neck up, allowing Casey more access to her neck and collarbone. The judge's eyes fell closed and she felt Casey tugging her robe off her shoulder. Just as she was about to genuinely protest, she heard a knock at the door.

Her eyes sprang open.

"That must be the mail man. Are you expecting something?" Casey asked, standing up and fixing her robe.

Elizabeth frowned and shook her head, "It could be anything." She pushed her chair back to stand.

Casey put her hand on Liz's shoulder. "You read. I'll get the door."

Elizabeth went back to her reading as she heard Casey's footsteps on the stairs. She sat up quickly when she overheard Casey say, "Elliot."

Pushing her chair back, she walked quietly to the top of the stairs where she could hear them well. It was Detective Elliot Stabler, from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Elizabeth knew him and his partner, Olivia Benson well. They however, did not know her well. It wouldn't tax Elliot Stabler's detective skills to figure out what Casey Novak was doing here.

Elizabeth did not often share her personal life at work. In fact, she hadn't mentioned Casey to a soul. She'd been down the road before, a decade earlier, and a lifetime more innocent. People were so nosey, and so cruel, judging relationships they knew nothing about. Elizabeth had her own way of being in love, but it didn't fit well into the wine and cheese reception set. Her mind flashed back to the beautiful relationship that had fallen victim to the critical gaze of the world.

She closed her eyes, straightened her robe and slid her feet into Casey's slippers. She smirked imagining Casey barefoot and sodden, talking to Elliot Stabler.

Casey came up the stairs with a mischievous grin on her pretty face.

"Oh my God, Liz, I'm sorry. I never thought... " not able to help herself, Casey laughed.

"It's ok, Casey, I will take care of this," Liz ruffled Casey's hair affectionately and set a more serious expression on her face. She winked at Casey as she started down the stairs.

She descended the stairs slowly, and came to face Elliot at the door.

Elizabeth found it difficult to suppress a chuckle as the detective was clearly uncomfortable, like a schoolboy with something to confess.

But if there was one thing Elizabeth Donnelly was good at, it was keeping a straight face.

She greeted him, "Detective."

Her composure was threatened again when the detective stammered out his apology.

The exchange itself was unremarkable and she couldn't imagine how he hadn't thought of the consequences of all this himself. After all these years, all these cases, how could he not know? Still she was happy to help. While Liz was a judge, she was never far from her thirty years in the District Attorney's office.

Just as he looked ready to leave, she stopped him.

It wasn't that she was ashamed of the relationship. Nothing Elizabeth Donnelly had ever done had caused her to feel shame. It was just that she didn't yet feel ready to announce her new found domestic bliss to the New York City legal community. Monogamy had never been her strong suit, and while Casey didn't require it of her, everyone else would.

But as the detective left, confirming he would be discreet, Elizabeth Donnelly knew that he wouldn't. As she closed the door, her shoulders slumped with the weight and judgement of the world. Again. 


End file.
